Welcome!

Welcome to my little ol' blog. I'll be upfront about it: I don't blog very often any more. If you found your way here because you read my book "Trailer Life," have a gander! But it's easier to keep up with me on Instagram or on my Facebook page. I have this long, drawn out theory on why I'm a terrible blogger, but that is a story for another day. Enjoy the ramblings of my life from the last 8 years or so.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Our house is started!

This is a picture taken mid-completion of the initial dirt work. Today it is all level and flat, ready for the footings to be dug. The kids were playing in the mountains of dirt, if you look really closely, you can see Kacy and Will up at the top. This is exciting for us, we have been living in our fifth wheel trailer for two years in August. (August 27th to be exact). Trailer life isn't exactly great, but now that I have more convenient laundry access (no more trips to the laundromat or Bakersfield), and now that we've been on our own property, things have improved. We hated living in the campground. It was weird having different people come in every weekend, and I couldn't let the kids outside. People thought we were weird because we didn't hang outside playing games, bbq-ing and listening to music. It's a little different when you LIVE camping. When it's your vacation for four days you live it up and pull out all your good camping stuff, but when it's your life you try to make it seem as normal as possible. When you have a patrol car next to your RV, there are polar reactions with your camper neighbors. Some come and introduce themselves and try to be friends, and others stay far, far away. In my mind I'm thinking the former are just nice people with a law enforcement relative somewhere, and the latter are the felons. The campground was really nice and I would recommend it to anyone. It was just not fun to live there for 14 months. Our property is awesome. Out in the middle of nowhere. No weirdos. Our biggest worry is the wildlife, which we love. (On that side note, earlier this week Ryan heard two gunshots while getting dressed in the morning for work, and went to check it out. It came from our neighbors who come to their house annually and have a caretaker live there. Ryan drove over there and the caretaker had shot a stray coyote who was ill, he had patchy fur and was acting funny. We never considered that coyotes can carry doggie diseases that may infect puppies.)

Next week is girls camp. Both Ryan and I are going, as well as 5 other family members. I have to get the kids ready for their trips to the grandma's houses too. It should be fun. I'll be gone for a week and I'll be busy there, but it might be a nice break from the daily life of cartoons, laundry, cooking all the time in a kitchen too small. In fact, Ryan and his fam will be cooking for me twice a day! How awesome is that! I am planning to take a biffy box with me- I am going to fill a box with wipees, a little trash can, lysol, and glowsticks for night time lighting. This is mostly for myself, as I plan on showering as little as possible while there. There are no real showers, and my memories of heating water over the fire and then showering in the midst of tarps is vivid. It's not terrible, but since I've had kids and discovered the wonders of baby wipes, I think you could possibly go a whole year stink free and clean using wipees. Hair will be a different story, but hey, we are camping! As I've told Ryan, I should probably make more of an effort to look in the mirror everyday. But for occaisions like camping, my lack of caring about my looks is just right! We will not be here next week to update the blog or anything. I am looking forward to the downtime! I am still a little nervous about leaving the kids for a week, but I know they will be fine with the grandmas. They will have fun.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Goodbye Honda

Honda has passed away today. He got really sick this weekend, and no amount of IV's and plasma transfusions could save him. We feel terrible because we were dragging our feet to get him all his shots, and now he suffered from parvo and died. I don't think we'll get a puppy for awhile. I don't think the kids know exactly yet... I know Kacy understands, and Will doesn't, and Ed will propbably miss him the most, but luckily won't quite remember him.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Kacy's latest news

Kacy informed me that she no longer wishes to attend preschool or kindergarten. As we drove past both schools the other day, I explained that she and Will MIGHT go to preschool there in a few weeks, and that the Kindergarten is right THERE. I told her before you go to school you have to get a shot. She got really quiet, and then said: "Um, mom, I don't want to go to school anymore. I just want to stay home and watch cartoons."

No amount of explaining or milkshake bribing could convince her that a shot was okay.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Two posts in one

Good bye old friends- I fear it is time to says good bye to my favorite, favorite shoes in the whole wide world. I bought them in early spring of 2001. Now, summer of 2007, I have to think about throwing them away. Not only are they ragged, they are no longer wearable. I think I'll keep them in my shoe cubby for a few more months before I throw them away... (I tried to replace them but they don't make this style anymore...)
Dem bones... Honda is an archaeologist. He goes exploring every morning and these are the treasures he has brought home the last few days. The leg bone is really big, still has some juicy stuff on it, and weighs a lot. The jaw bone is missing some teeth, any one care to wager a guess as to the species of this animal? To be fair, Ryan says the bones don't go to the same animal. I have my guesses...

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Today I made...

That is supposed to say "WOOL" hair clip, but that's what you get when you are in a hurry...

This is what I did today, along with a couple of dresses that are half done. With the scraps, I gussied up this onesie and attempted my first hair clip. I tried the clip on Kacy and it is really cute on the head. Looks a little funny laying there all lonely, with no hair to complement. I didn't have a girl model in the house that would fit this size 2t, and Ed would look funny... Now, do I try to sell it, or give it to someone I have in mind at church?

Monday, July 2, 2007

What a day

Today was a little crazy, all thanks to Will. He is the reason for this post. Maybe it's second child syndrome, I don't know, but why, oh why is he so goofy? He spread his beans all over his legs after rubbing his ranch dressing all over his face. Earlier in the day he wrote all over his legs...and he has had a rough time fighting over toys with both Kacy and Ed. (Ed won... he pulled on Will's 'fro and made him cry... Ed can be mean. At least, he stands up for what he believes in.) Kacy is in this because this is the pose she struck when I got the camera out, and she didn't want me to take her picture. I love this picture of her, it cracks me up! Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day full of "mom, I'm thirsty" and "mom, so-and-so is doing this-and-that" Good thing I'm still in a good mood. I could use a diet pepsi though.